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{{quote|''"Many different values mix together, and the world becomes gray... That is unforgivable! I will separate Pokémon and people, and black and white will be clearly distinct!"''|'''N''', ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]''}}
 
In [[Real Life]], seeing the world in absolute [[Black and White Morality]] is considered normal for small children, but seen as a far less healthy trait in adults. A person who regards the people around him as [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|entirely good]] or [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|entirely evil]], as if they were part of some really simplistic narrative, is very likely to have a mental disorder.
 
Some authors have picked up on this, playing belief in [[Black and White Morality]] as a sign of the character being insane or at least mentally unstable.
 
While this is almost always done in settings that are not of [[Black and White Morality]] themselves, exceptions exist. In such cases, a [[Lawful Good]] [[Anti-Hero]] suffering from [['''Black and White Insanity]]''' can be very disturbing indeed in the eyes of their fellow [[Lawful Good]] real heroes.
 
This trope is ''not'' about [[I Thought It Meant|regarding everyone as either completely sane or completely insane]] - however, such a worldview would be a good ''example'' of this trope.
 
A Character suffering from [['''Black and White Insanity]]''' is likely to reason in [[False Dichotomies]] and keep their worldview coherent by applying huge amounts of [[Insane Troll Logic]] and meeting criticism with [[Abomination Accusation Attack|Abomination Accusation Attacks]]s. [['''Black and White Insanity]]''' might also be what makes a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], well, an ''extremist''. This kind of insanity is pretty much the characteristic of the [[Knight Templar]]. Character development might lead to the insane one becoming a [[Troubled Sympathetic Bigot]].
 
Compare [[Activist Fundamentalist Antics]], [[Windmill Crusader]], [[With Us or Against Us]].
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== Comic Books ==
 
* An early version of the Heterodyne Boys (the basis of the characters of the same name in ''[[Girl Genius]]'', but specifically not the same guys, according to [[Word of God|Studio Foglio]]) has the titular characters traveling to an alternate universe with [[Grey and Grey Morality]], where they end up killing the first guy they meet in a bar. They then proceed to conclude that he ''must'' have been evil, because where they come from, only evil people ever die. In their own universe, that is assumed to be true, but in the universe they ended up in, that combined with their abilities essentially makes them a pair of [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal Maniacs]]s.
* Rorschach in ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'', meant deliberately as a comment on [[Steve Ditko]]'s [[With Us or Against Us|more fanatically Objectivist]] characters.
* [[Batman|Two-Face]] is sometimes portrayed as having this as the root of his multiple personality disorder.
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{{quote|'''"Harvey"''': ''Good boys don't do bad things.''
'''"Two-Face"''': ''BAD BOYS DON'T DO GOOD THINGS.'' }}
* In ''[[Logicomix]]'', Ferge is totally honest and devoted to truth & logic. Sadly, this devotion combined with [[Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance]] leads to [[Black and White Insanity]] in the form of a [[Straw Vulcan]] despise for women and jews. On the whole, this make him a [[Troubled Sympathetic Bigot]] who is desperately trying to do the right thing.
 
== Film ==
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== Live Action TV ==
 
* Virgilia in the ''[[North and South US]]'' miniseries is against slavery. Fine. Believing that everyone from the southern USA is [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]]? Not so fine. And it keeps going downhill from there, with her ruining her own life and arguably becoming more of a liability to her cause rather then an asset.
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|The Watchers Council]] says all demons are evil. Of course, this is first disproved by the [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|vampire with a soul]] Angel, and then the soulless vampire Spike, who actually goes and [[Love Redeems|gets a soul for love]]. Not to mention Clem, a demon so non-evil that not only does Buffy trust him with Dawn, but Dawn is able to push him around (and he comes to Buffy's birthday party).
** But he still eats kittens.
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== Other ==
 
* Tuyet from ''[[Bionicle]]''. She's a [[Lawful Evil]] character, who wants to take over the Matoran universe because she genuinely believes [[Utopia Justifies the Means|she could make it a better place]]. However, an Alternate Universe shows that this would mean brainwashing all the other Toa into [[Knight Templar|Knight Templars]]s, and killing anyone who poses a potential threat to her position as Empress.
 
== Tabletop Games ==
 
* The [[Big Bad|Oracles]] from ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'' have this as their defining character flaw.
* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', this is [[Light Is Not Good|White]]'s main flaw, which is why [[Knight Templar]]'s are fairly easy to create. A specific example were the Loxodons from Mirrodin (metal covered anthropomorphic elephants), which were mentally incapable of accepting the concept of moral shades of grey. The white [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|phyrexians]] that took over Mirrodin were even worse in that regard.
* In [[Warhammer 40000]], pretty much every single sentient being is afflicted by this, due to [[Fantastic Racism]]. Except the [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] ones.
 
== Video Games ==
 
* N and Team Plasma from ''[[Pokémon Black and White|Pokemon ]][[Meaningful Name|Black And White]]'' has this. If you're not in support of their insane [[Cartoonish Supervillainy]], then you're a cruel and abusive Lilipup-kicking Pokemon trainer! {{spoiler|It turns out that Team Plasma's claim to having this is merely a cover-up for their true motives -- to [[Take Over the World]]. N turns to be the true Plasma King. The only one who wants to [[Take Over the World]] is [[Complete Monster|Ghetsis]].}}
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', as Anders becomes more and more obsessed with the Mage/Templar issue of Kirkwall and as [[Fighting From the Inside|he's starting to lose the battle against Vengeance]], he becomes more and more hostile to those he perceives as pro-Templar or just generally an enemy of the mages, including those in Hawke's party, and including other mages. At the nadir of his madness, one isn't even allowed to abstain from the debate; choose a side or he'll choose it for you and designate you an enemy.
** Fenris, too, in the other direction, to a slightly lesser extent. Fenris believes that all mages are evil, period. Interestingly, he's actually ''aware'' that it's generally a bad idea to overgeneralize the innocent many based on the actions of a guilty few. But reminding him of that will cause him to rationalize that bad magic is so tempting that all innocent mages, with the possible exception of Mage!Hawke, will eventually become guilty. The "lesser extent" part comes in because Fenris never quite ''acts'' on his belief that all mages are the same beyond insulting the mages in the party, and Fenris will sometimes apologize for being rude if it's pointed out to him, where Anders...well, play the end of the game for details.
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